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'Green Lantern' Co-Writer Working on 'Wonder Woman' Movie

Yesterday, the news broke that Warner Bros./DC has indeed (re)started work on the long-stalled Justice League movie. That announcement has been expected ever since Marvel's The Avengers obliterated box office records with its opening weekend (the current worldwide total is sitting at a hefty $1.36 billion).

With Zack Snyder's upcoming Superman reboot, Man of Steel, expected to have direct ties to the Justice League continuity - and the Batman franchise slated to be "reinvented," after this summer's Dark Knight Rises - there's been uncertainty surrounding the first solo movie for the third most important JL player: Wonder Woman.

Warner Bros./DC has reportedly hired Michael Goldenberg to pen the script for the Wonder Woman movie. Goldenberg co-wrote last year's under-performing Green Lantern, along with the well-received adaptations of Carl Sagan's sci-fi novel Contact, and the 2003 live-action version of Peter Pan; not to mention, he was the sole writer responsible for adapting Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to the big screen. That's all to say: don't hold Goldenberg's involvement with GL against him (too much, that is).

The Wonder Woman tidbit was nestled in the recent Variety report on Justice League (hat tip to /Film for catching that), along with additional information about other DC projects that are actively being developed. That list includes the resurrected Lobo movie, now with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton in charge - and The Flash, which is still being overseen by Greg Berlanti (a writer/producer on Green Lantern and the upcoming Arrow TV series).

Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon was set to bring the famous Amazonian warrior gal to the big screen a few years ago, but that version of the project collapsed during takeoff. (DC's probably kicking themselves for that now, right?) Similarly, last year's failed pilot for NBC's attempted Wonder Woman TV series reboot was deemed such a catastrophe that it landed a spot on our 12 Most WTF TV Moments of 2011. In short: Wonder Woman remains one of the staples of the DC universe, but the beloved superheroine has yet to be given a proper movie/TV treatment in the contemporary age of comic book movies.

Nicolas Winding Refn (Valhalla Rising, Drive) has previously spoken on and off about his desire to direct Wonder Woman, with Mad Men starlet Christina Hendricks in the title role. Similarly, fans have been pushing for actresses like Lynn Collins (John Carter) and Gina Carano (Haywire) to land the coveted part, but we've yet to hear anything official as to who will actually call the shots on the Wonder Woman movie, and who will portray Diana of Themyscira on the big screen.

Goldenberg will certainly be taking cues from the DC Comics "New 52" reboot with his Wonder Woman script, much like the writing team responsible for Man of Steel. The plan is to emulate Marvel's shared movie universe approach (at least, its successful aspects) with those solo superhero flicks, culminating with the Justice League movie. Expect Warner Bros./DC to eventually recruit a noteworthy filmmaker to helm the Wonder Woman movie for that reason (similar to when Marvel hired Kenneth Branagh as director on Thor).

We'll keep you updated on both the Wonder Woman and Justice League movies as more news comes to light.